I’ll be in Stockholm for a week starting Sunday visiting a colleague. Does anyone have any advice about fun and interesting things to do there?
Also feel free to use this as an all-purpose open thread for anything non-Palin you have to get off your chest.
media browski
I’m working my way through a lb. of pulled pork and a 12 pack of Tecate. Also.
I may have to resign.
Linkmeister
If you’ve got a free evening or time on the airplane, pick up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; it’s written by a deceased Swedish journalist, it’s set in Sweden, it has Swedish industrialists as principals, and it’s a pretty good mystery.
Eric U.
I hear the part of the Appalachian trail that goes through Stockholm is particularly beautiful.
Calming Influence
Fun and interesting?!? That place is absolutely crawling with liberal fascists. You better put fun out of your mind and focus on not getting all socialized and shit!
inkadu
What is mistal? And why do I keep drinking it? The bottle says 30% alcohol by volume, which might provide a clue.
Comrade Stuck
Practice yer yodeling. The Swedish farm girls love it.
Or is that Austrian farm girls, I forgets.
Laura W
How is the Pinot Grigio over there?
I would like to get my bra off my chest. Also.
DougJ
Thanks. I’ll see if I can get it at B&N.
Calming Influence
One word: Meatballs.
Calming Influence
Also.
Ian Aberbach
Go see the changing of the guard at the Palace in Gamla Stan (the Old City). It’s a wonderful contrast to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
AhabTRuler
Go to Haga Park and see the Butterflys in the Greenhouse.
DougJ
Alcohol is obscenely expensive there. I’m bringing as much duty free whiskey as I can fit in my bag.
Calming Influence
Being half Swedish and half Norwegian, you can trust me on this: most swedes walk around naked.
Calming Influence
I learned that at Burning Man.
R. Schmidt-Orren
Yah, hikin’ the Appalachian Trail in Sveeden eh? Goodie, goodie, goodie!
DougJ
Thanks.
AhabTRuler
And the Stadshuset, but that’s pretty obvious. I am also pretty fond of the Stockholm subway system, but that’s because I am a subway geek!
I was there so long ago that I don’t remember all the names, but trucking around the old city is cool, too. There’s a park somewhere that has a bunch of traditional Swedish houses and some crafts, kinda like Colonial Williamsburg or Silver Dollar City. And there is a TV tower or some other ‘tallest structure,’ but you can skip that, it’s nonsense.
Bror
It all depends on what you like to do. Stockholm has museums about pretty much any topic imaginable, a very good club scene, world class restaurants, Beautiful nature close by, etc, etc. I would take one day to visit the archipelago, or why not stay over night in a hostel? The Vasa museum is the most popular attraction and well worth a visit. Go for a picnic either in Haga or Djurgården (that where the Vas a museum is). Kulturhuset by Sergels Torg is nice if you want to check out some contemporary cultural exhibitions and has an interesting bookstore. That’s some general stuff to do, please feel free to mail me if you have more specific things in mind.
:-)Bror
Linkmeister
@AhabTRuler: Ooh, the Swedish Metro does look pretty cool!
Max
I really hate people who have their dogs on retractable leads. I was out on the trail, with my dog in harness and non-retract lead, and this dumb bit$h has her NOT friendly dog on a retract and of course, she can’t control the dog when we pass and her dog goes after mine. Luckily, my dog got the better of hers, but I still called her out and told her to get a real lead.
I wanted to punch her in the face.
Oregon Guy
Take the Silja Line to Helsinki or the Aland Islands and get wasted. That’s what everyone in Stockholm does for fun, as the alcohol tax in Sweden is eleventy-thousand percent and the Silja Line is duty-free. Oh, and the girls are very attractive.
RedKitten (formerly Krista - the Canadian one)
No better feeling at the end of a long day than taking that thing off, is there?
Calming Influence
Also, bras are illegal in Sweden.
inkadu
@AhabTRuler: I’ve never been to Sweden but my most awesome subway experience was in Munich. Clean, efficient, well-marked, and damn, those escalators went down to hell itself. And people were kind enough to laugh when I, drunk on beer, yelled to my compatriots in a panic, “This is it! This our stop!” when, in fact, our stop was the next one.
Bastards.
Peter J
You could visit the Vasa Museum and learn everything about the proud Swedish tradition of ship building. (The ship sank on her maiden voyage…)
Or you could visit one of the royal palaces and feel uplifted by the fact that the Bush family or any other family doesn’t inherit the presidency.
Finally, Gothenburg is only three hours away by train. And they got this.
Svensker
Be sure to ask for the lutefisk. Big piles of lutefisk. Mmmmmmm.
monkeyboy
Eat your vegetables before you go. Swedes tend to think that potatoes are a vegetable course and that is often the only vegetable served with a meal. The most common green vegetable is sprigs of dill. When we were there, one evening in search of vegetables we went to a Chinese restaurant. It was a hoot because we were able to eat Swedish dishes made Chinese – sweet and sour Swedish meatballs, stir fried reindeer, etc. You are going too early for kräftskiva (crayfish parties) which happen in August. One food I recommend is toast skagen – we had a simple but delicious version from a food stand at a large central market, I believe it was Östermalms Saluhall, which was interesting to visit in its own right.
Stockholm has lots of interesting museums some located in Old Town and area that should be visited in its own right.
Calming Influence
True story: I just googled “swedish fjords” (don’t ask), and the results had some images, one of which was a woman in a slinky dress, which struck me as somewhat un-fjord like. So naturally I clicked on the image, and Firefox immediately crashed. Just went away. It’s never done that before.
I blame the Swedes.
maya
Just steer clear of girls named Andrea or Doria.
Jerry
The VASA museum is pretty cool. The Vasa was a warship that sank in Stockholm harbor on it’s MAIDEN voyage (oops!). They lost the shp for 300 yrs and recently raised and restored it and moved it into the museum. Pretty impressive!
The Palace was pretty cool too. The royal family still uses it for state occasions. Not as ornate as the bigger European castles but much more open and friendly.
We got around on the ferry boats in February. I suspect July will be even nicer on the water.
Laura W
@RedKitten (formerly Krista – the Canadian one): I walk through the door, I set my purse/groceries/bags down. I take the bra off.
Wearing a bra in my own home is like wearing shoes or undies in my own home.
WRONG.
Laura W
DougJ, my super sexy hot comment on lingerie landed me in moderation. Can you set my Victoria Secrets free?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV_T7VbI5
(S h o e s S h o e s…)
inkadu
@Calming Influence: Here’s the description of the dress: “* In Sweden, the most romantic thing you can give your beloved, other than a pickled herring smorgasbord, is a fastrack to the afterlife. Called ‘Döden passar dej’ (Death Becomes You) this ritual is an old Swedish custom, usually carried out in this traditional costume. * Part of our ‘Natural History’ collection. * Soft jersey cotton blend with a refined, tailored fit.”
I clicked “see more,” but unfortunately it just gave me the rest of the description.
Hey, what are those delicious crackers/cookies they have in Sweden?
And how do you deal with the shame of being a half-breed? I have a friend who is exactly the same as you — Norweigan and Swedish — but also a mixture of liberal and blood-racist (he wants to keep his bloodline pure, nothing against other races, of course) He likes to worship the Old Gods, and blame his Swedish side for all his problems.
Augustine
Stan Getz FTW
beabea
@Comrade Stuck
That would actually be the Swiss who yodel. Mostly rural folks in the Alps, but also city people at parties after they’ve had a few.
Unless someone else has beat me to it, I might as well stake my claim as BJ’s resident Swiss-born commenter.
Also. Throughout my life in the US, I have often been asked to “say something in Swedish”, which always puzzled me since we Swiss speak Swiss German (and read in German since Swiss is a dialect and not a written language), as well as French, Italian and Romansch. Not Swedish though.
Which is my long-winded way of saying, I’m sorry DougJ, I have no suggestions for you except to bring your eyeshades because I believe it does not get dark at night this time of year. Have a great time!
Laura W
@Laura W: You know it’s time for bed when you forget about S h o e s and you run out of time in which to check that your lame Stevie Nicks link works.
Cat Lady
DougJ – what is the weather like there? In Boston we haven’t started summer yet, and it’s the 4th of July. Everything is cold and dark and damp, and all of my plants have rotted. Is it better than that?
LD50
Sweden? Isn’t that ‘old Europe’?
DougJ
Pretty cool. But better than Boston which is in permanent rain mode, from I understand.
All of which proves that Al Gore is wrong, btw.
LD50
It also proves he’s fat.
DougJ
@Laura
I don’t see any comments in moderation.
ellaesther
@Svensker: I have never actually commented before, having loved this site from a lurker’s corner for some time, but I recently began thinking: Soon! Maybe you’ll be brave enough to jump in soon!
And then I see this act of cruelty, recommending lutefisk, and honestly, this ex-Ole had to de-lurk quickly, to say: DON’T DO IT!
Really. It’s fish jello. And not in a good way.
Sorry to intrude. Carry on.
Glocksman
@beabea:
Heh…
I used to mix up Sweden and Switzerland as a kid, along with Austria and Australia.
Of course I also wondered at that age why we didn’t just take my dog down to the VFW for her shots. :)
jl
OK, I am jealous, I wanna go back. Everybody should go to Stockholm! It is a very cool city with lsufftodo and thingstosee! Stockholm is fun. Take your pick
Vasa Museum: fascinating museum with an amazingly preserved 17th century ship. There is another museum with beautifully preserved Viking ships -forget the name but probably brochures about it at the Vasa museum.
Archipelago: very beautiful chain of very tiny to smallish rocky islands east of Stockholm in the Baltic Sea. I get up very early so I can see all of it go by when taking ferry from Finland or Estonia. But I think there are 1-day tour boats from Stockholm.
Skansen: outdoor museum on an island in middle of city. You take a cute little boat to it. Zoo, carnival stuff, outdoor historical museum, sometimes with historical re-enactments, some elegant old eateries with old-fashioned Swedish foods and pastries that are kind of extinct in most places in Sweden.
Museum of National Antiquities, Museum of History: Swedish history. Vikings, swords. Some museum near Royal Palace has old military stuff from Swedish Empire days. So if you want to see old king So-and-so’s actual uniform with the bullet holes and sword slashes, this stuff is for you.
Palace and changing of the guards is fun, as commenter above says, but the palace tour is way too long for my taste.
Go to old town, Gamla Stan, has lots of atmosphere and nice shops (Well they are tiresome to me -kind of feels like a super high toned Fisherman’s Wharf after awhile).
If you’re into that kind of thing, dozens of old churches around Old Town that are spectacular (and I think kind of odd, and boring once you have seen the first two). I’d recommend at least one. Take your pick from three most famous: Cathedral next to Palace, German Church, Ridderhom (sp) church in Old Town. I eventually saw all three, and they all have some historical or artsy thingee about them, and are worth at least a short looksee.
Check out club scene: jazz, dance music, local dance music groups, etc. Central City Old Town (Gamla Stan) Walk along interesting neighborhoods along north side of river.
Meet as many locals as you can. I think they are very nice and friendly people. Check out the beer bars.
Laura W
@DougJ: Someone emancipated me before you got to me, apparently.
It’s OK. I don’t think any less of you.
Slowpoke.
jl
Why are my Stockholm comments in moderation? I didn’t mention where the casino was, or the Bodengatan where the young and trendy go to barhopping and you might meet interesting ladies.
Should try to find one of the outdoor summer dance bars. They are fun.
This gonna be moderated too?
MikeJ
There’s an authentic Swedish family kind of resturant either on hantversgarten or garvergarten… somewhere around there, just west of the train station a few blocks, across the channel.
If you get sick of swedsh food( and how could you?) there’s a good sushi place, uhm, on jakobsgaten? Anyway, they know fish in Sweden, so sushi is a good bet. also near the train station, but pretty much across the street from the Sheraton.
I loved the Moderna Museet over on Skeppsholmen. If modern art is your thing, go.
There were some dodgy punk rock clubs that were a lot of fun, but they tend to come and go. Check the alt-weekly paper, ask the concierge to translate if need be. Stockholm is also a big metal and dance pop town. Bring the correct footwear to get into many of the clubs.
Other than that, the only things I really know are delis near telefonplan and kista. Hard to guess who I worked for there, huh?
Peter J
And remember to watch out for the pirates. I think there’s more of them in Sweden than anywhere else except for Somalia.
With this in mind, you probably should stay away from the archipelago.
jl
Vegetables in Swedish restaurants -yeah, kind of slim pickings there, unless you go to some ultra new trendy place. People I know in Sweden say that eating out is not nearly as popular there as in US, and from what I saw, I believe it. Most of my restaurant experiences there were disappointing compared to home cooking.
Lots of “drinking out”, though, and plenty of good beer.
Go buy some Surstromming (sour herring) and try to eat it. that will take your appetite away for the rest of the trip. Do it out in a park near a trash can.
Check out a Swedish candy store. Swedes tell me that their candy is the best candy in the world and they pack it with them since other candy sucks-but some of it is a very very acquired taste.
Do not, repeat, do not, make a fool of yourself and order ice tea, or soda pop, with a meal -unless you have a very good explanation for such odd behavior. You drink beer. I learned to do this after repeated humiliations.
They have very good non-alcoholic beer there (well, really a 1% beer) which I drank, after I could no longer stand to look at another regular beer again for awhile.
In edit: you have to go looking for traditional Swedish restaurants -sushi, pizza, pub food, other Swedish adaptations of foreign cuisine etc. have taken over in a lot of places. But like commenter above suggests -old fashioned Swedish is worth looking for.
nasruddin
The Vasa museum
The wonderful enclosed market in the middle
of town Östermalmshallen
There’s a terrific museum about the history of
Sweden ; I think it’s just called the Historical Museum
and it’s not far from Östermalm.
Anything Gamla Stan / Old town
And get out on the water at this time of year.
Go everywhere a boat & ferry can take you that
you have time for.
Great city. Very close to heaven.
Oh and the all-ice bar is around somewhere,
if you like that sort of thing. I think it’s near the
train station.
DougJ
@jl
Thanks.
hilzoy
hmm: I was going to comment, but jl said everything I would have said. Gamla Stan is lovely; I used to live there (or rather: stayed there with my grandparents for five months.) Skansen, the museums, the archipelago. Hiking is fun.
Vegetables: my favorite, in an ironic way, was deep-fried parsley. Really.
Joe Buck
Stockholm is a great walking city; just wandering around is great.
Don’t miss Skansen, it’s amazing. It’s an open-air museum, more than a hundred years old, with buildings and model villages representing different places and eras of Sweden (in some places there are actors playing characters, and they’ll do their bits in English). Imagine something like colonial Williamsburg only much bigger and more ambitious.
Fulcanelli
What ever you do DougJ, avoid the syndrome at all costs. I hear you get it from the banks there. You’ll come back as a rabid, fire-breathing republican wingnut with a funny accent and strange tastes in food and we’ll have to put you down. Or something. Try the local talent instead, much nicer, so I hear. Have a good time, though…
Joe Buck
My visit to Stockholm was in September. It would be a very different experience in early July, because there’s less than six hours of darkness; not only is sunset after 10, then the twilight lasts a long time. I checked weather.com, sunrise tomorrow is at 3:41.
Steeplejack
@Linkmeister:
Second that. Just finished it a few weeks ago. And the sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire (Amazon link embedded in title), is coming out July 28.
Calming Influence
@inkadu: [Sorry, stepped out for dinner]
Shame?!? It’s teh perfect! Call me a wimp, I invoke Viking ancestors. You dare say I don’t understand the dangers of nuclear proliferation? I can see Hans Blix from my front porch! What do you mean I’m afraid of the water? Thor Heyerdahl is my second cousin once removed!!1!
It’s a treasure trove. Plus I have dark hair, so if Sweden or Norway ever do anything embarrassing, I can claim to be Irish.
Calouste
@Joe Buck:
It pretty much doesn’t get dark at all this time of the year. More like a heavy twilight, but that’s it.
anonymous
You get a lot of them degenerate half breeds up there. Swede-Finn mixes. Swede-Norge. Swede-Dane (specially in the South). Swede-Estonian (oooh, but if that last one is a lady, probably ultra hot, and should ask her out).
Swede-Finns have are the most conflicted and tragic, in my opinion, since you have the wet-sauna versus dry-sauna conflict -which tears at their souls, and causes endless havoc with their friends.
Which reminds me, summer is a good time to take in a sauna (though I guess you can get one here). At least people won’t be trying to get you to run out into the cold like they do in the winter time, and give yourself a fricken heart attack. I would try to find a Finnish, Russian, or Eastern sauna, though some might consider that close the masochistic weirdoness.
And we call Sweden ‘homogenous’ -hah. They are rife with ethnic strife.
I notice a lot of refugees there in last few trips -especially from Horn of Africa, it seems.
in Edit: this is comment from jl, but forgot to fill in the name and e-mail, so whatever happened, I dunno. In moderation again.
bago
If by any chance you see Opeth playing, see them. They are masters of the guitar.
Calming Influence
Sweden, home of the best band name in the world:
Tad Morose
Surabaya Stew
If you like sandwiches with 1 meat, no cheese, only lettuce as a veggie, all slathered in mayo, then Sweden is the place for you! That and the locally made painted wood horses are absurdly expensive. Then again, perhaps I should explore beyond the Stockholm airport…
Xel
Stockholmian here. Whatever you do don’t get caught up in Old Town (Gamla Stan). It is full of old architecture, includes some spiffy buildings, nooks and crannies and is bordered by sights to see, but whatever you do don’t wander about inside it’s myriad ways for too long.
It’s always packed with tourists and the increasingly tasteless and annoying venues/entrepreneurs who cater to their clueless hides. It’s also easy to get lost. The only reason I ever go there is because of the awesome sci-fi bookshop on Västerlånggatan.
Stockholm is a pretty green city, but Stockholmians also happen to be notorious litterers, be prepared for that. Their English should be pretty good though.
The Vasa museum is pretty great. There is also the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Architecture, also on Djurgården, together with Skansen Zoo and countless green areas with some nice cafes, gardens etc. The Globe is cool but it’s a bit off the beaten track.
I’ll do my job as a citizen and point you to this as an aid: http://www.stockholmsmuseer.se/pdf/eng_sthlmsmuseums.pdf
You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to dining. The upper-range ones are all about tasting menus that will set you back but are incredible experiences. In all other ranges most kitchens of the world are accounted for. Music festivals and the like are everywhere in the summer months.
It’s also not a very big city, so if you don’t have a window in your schedule you can ask some native about his or her favorite spot. Your colleague could also point you somewhere nice.
Oh, and if you happen to see “Let the Right One In” by John Ajvide Lindqvist in some bookstand, you’d miss out if you didn’t purchase it immediately.
MikeJ
And since this is an open thread, here’s what I made for desert:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_jjuzPKR1lcM/Sk7iX08JYEI/AAAAAAAAAqU/y8TClDkB5sY/s720/DSC_0007.JPG
Raspberries (from my backyard) with creme anglais on puff pastry with whipped cream.
And xel is right about “let the right one in”.
FredW
I’ve heard it may be closed for renovations, but Akkurat is one of the best beer bars in the world. If it is closed, Oliver Twist will do in a pinch.
asiangrrlMN
@MikeJ: That’s looks fucking fantastic. How did it taste?
MTmofo
Make sure you visit the ABBA wing in the National Museum. The museum itself is fabulous inside and out. But, truly, make sure you visit the ABBA wing. Your entire lifestory will be empty if you don’t.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Howdy. Sorry I had to rush off yesterday.
Happy 4th of July!
asiangrrlMN
S’ok, fake-hubby. I know your work is the most important thing!
MikeJ
An American colleague came over to work on the same contract I was on. We were taking the subway to work, and he was one of those people who freaks out if they don’t know exactly where they are and where they’re going.
We got to our stop and he starts freaking out, “This is the wrong stop! This is some place called utfart!”
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Urgh. Not at all. I’m trying to work out how I can stop being a lawyer.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Just teasing. I thought you were moving to Portugal to be a flamenco dancer.
monkeyboy
Xel says:
But what about Swedish restaurants? I admit that it was several years ago when we were in Stockholm and that we had a native in-law who showed us the good spots. I don’t want to go to a small foreign city and not eat the native food but instead eat local half-assed world food interpretations (except Chinese because they adapt to the locals with such things as my above mentioned “sweet and sour Swedish meatballs, and in France “grenouille Pekinoise”).
So, as a local, are there good places to get good standard Swedish food (such as my recollection of Toast Skagen at a food stand in a venerable market), and do middle Swedish restaurants still only serve dill sprigs as the only green vegetable?
Teemu
Take a Silja ferry through the beautiful archipelago to Finnish city of Turku. Here, you can paint my house and fix my bike. That should keep you busy for the whole week.
But really, archipelago is beautiful on nice weather. If your host has a yacht or sailboat, that’s perfect. If not, well, ferries are excellent for some good intoxicated fun (if you’re into that sort of thing) – hence the nickname ‘drilling rigs’ for them.
Someone already recommended surstrommin (sour herring). Remember, they’re not to be consumed by you – you’re supposed to bring some home, and give to your loved ones.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
I’m thinking wedding planner.
Ole
Doug – if you’ve got the time (a couple of days) and the dough (a couple of hundred dollars + cost of stay) jump on a plane to Kiruna and go see some midnight sun.
And whatever you do, do NOT eat or in any other way try to digest lutefisk or surströmning. Please … :-)
Have a nice trip.
Ole
Xel – Skagen is in Denmark, I live just a wee bit south. So if someone tried to tell you a Skagen Toast is a local swedish deli you’ve been had :-)
Not saying it couldn’t have been good though :-)
And Doug, don’t know what kind of music you’re into, but you might arrive in Sweden during the Hultsfred Festival. If the weather’s good what better way to spend a day than doing some sex’n’drugs’n’rock’n’roll – though single day tickets aren’t exactly cheap.
Bill E Pilgrim
@MikeJ:
I love that one. My girlfriend did the same thing in Italy. “Wait, this isn’t our stop is it? This is “Uscita”
I mean it sounds like a town, doesn’t it?
The one that got me in Italy was when I was driving around Rome on the Grande Raccordo Anulare, the freeway loop, and kept seeing signs for “Inversione di Marcia”. I thought it was a tourist attraction of some sort, I had been seeing “Castello di Guido” signs a lot and figured this was something similarly named after someone named Marcia. Except I drove for miles and miles and kept seeing exits for it, and figured I was utterly lost and going in circles, until I finally realized it meant “U Turn”
DougJ
Thanks.
Hedley Lamarr
It should be pleasant weather, with extended daylight. Try a day cruise out to the many islands east of the city. At least go down to the docks to people (read blondes) watch.
monkeyboy
@Ole
From what I’ve heard Toast Skagen was invented in Sweden shortly after WWII. Maybe it was named for a nearby part of Denmark to make it seem exotic because the women there were beautiful, the men there looked like trolls, or that was the source of the very small shrimp traditionally used.
I first had it from a food stall at a fish market in Stockholm. Little shrimps in a flavored mayonnaise that contained some roe on toast maybe made from supermarket bread. It was very good because the shrimp were so fresh. You can get it in fancier versions at restaurants but I don’t know if it would be better.
When I first experienced it, I had just flown in from Los Angles where sushi chefs were starting to use mayonnaise – one favorite place prepared diced scallops with flavored mayonnaise containing fish roe. I was struck by the similarity of the dishes and the fact that the Swedes were ahead of the Japanese.
techno
You are in Stockholm–the capital of arguably the most advanced civilization on planet earth. For goodness sakes, don’t spend your time looking for tourist traps.
Go find some housing–see if you can discover how the Swedes build the most energy-efficient dwellings on earth. Discover how comprehensive their recycling programs are.
Go find a good hospital and examine how the their comprehensive cradle-to-grave social programs lead to the longest life expectancies anywhere.
Find someone who knows about water quality and ask how the Stockholm harbor is so pure, you can eat the fish and swim in it.
Find someone who can explain how the historically most warlike people in Europe have managed to stay out of wars since 1814.
Talk to someone about the schools and ask how a 19-year-old is fluent in four languages.
I suppose you could waste your time in Sweden bitching about the high price of booze or the lack of high-quality / low cost dining. etc. But you WILL miss the reasons why visiting Sweden is such a mind-boggling experience.
DP
As noted above, don’t miss the vasa museum.
Pennypacker
Confirming what others are saying: the Vasa museum is simply amazing. Has to be seen to be appreciated.
The Pale Scot
One word
AQUAVIT,
it’s viking moonshine
http://www.aquavit.nu/
Xel
“Go find a good hospital and examine how the their comprehensive cradle-to-grave social programs”
It’s not just the “independently classic liberal” newspaper Svenska Dagbladet who would take contention with your lauding of the entire system. There are many flaws and many cases of government incompetence and callousness.
“Find someone who knows about water quality and ask how the Stockholm harbor is so pure, you can eat the fish and swim in it.”
It’s kinda so-so, but definitely OK to swim in.
“Talk to someone about the schools and ask how a 19-year-old is fluent in four languages.”
Dude, naw. Only three is mandatory and fluency in the third is pretty far off depending on the definition of fluency. The schools are definitely one of the patchiest spots in Swedish commons. In Finland they’ve really pulled it off but OTOH they have a lot of early grade segregation that means only kids with the best grades will get to the best schools. I dunno how it looks for the average student, but they definitely do better than Swedish kids.
One thing Swedes should be happy about is that we have high social mobility and a decent degree of trust. In very combative countries where the fall into poverty is long and hard there is usually much stress and less trust (Spain and the UK comes to mind).
One thing I’m really happy about is that we don’t have any real social conservatism in politics (the christian democrats are mostly a very appreciable bunch). Fiscal ones (the center-right alliance might bet my vote next year, seeing as the red-green opposition don’t match their enthusiasm and rhetoric with plans and non-ideological appeal) are currently in charge and doing an OK job, however. Just wish they could be a bit ambitious and try to get more people more social coverage and get more jobs out there.
jl
Had to check in to look for cool stuff to see there next time I go.
After thinking about it, I was unfair to restaurants. I never stayed there long enough to get serious local eating out know how. I do remember that there are special menus around holidays that are great, but very pricey. As xel notes, you can find fantastic sophisticated traditional Swedish food, and ultimate, very refined smorgies, but it will cost a lot.
I do not remember seeing McDonalds or Burger Kings, etc. there, but maybe I just did not notice them. Lots of sub shops.
I drop by McDonalds in different countries at least once to see how they vary. Switzerland, I got little garnishes that were better than the official dishes. Swiss McDonalds coffee was very good and cheap, and I could cage a few extra of the chocolate wafer cookies that they gave out with it.
Had beet salads at a Finnish fast food joint (either Mickeys or BKing). I hated beets until I tasted fresh beet salad in that part of the world.
I walked into an Estonian McDonalds in Tartu around 11AM one day to get a burger. It was open, but the staff was just sitting around, a couple of students working there were doing homework. They said, “well, we could make you something, but it is between breakfast and lunch and we usually don’t serve anything”. Between breakfast and lunch???? Usually don’t serve anything???? I guess I could have said “Look, I am an American, I know how this stuff is done. You produce food continuously from the second you open to the second you close, so people can eat anytime at their whim and get fat.” But I didn’t want to be a rude American. I came back at noon.
I was in a traditional Swedish candy store getting candy (the Jap, or Yap, or something like that) the old fashoned way, in butcher paper folded into a cone, so you could eat it, or rather savor ‘The Best Candy in the World (TM) Unlike Other Candy that Sucks” as you walked down the street. I tried some stuff that looked like toffee, but it tasted salty and weird. I was so astonished I spat it out onto to the floor. Everyone laughed. The shopkeeper said “Well, you have been deprived and you don’t appreciate The Best Candy in the World yet. Why not try some salt licorice”?”
BobC
Rent a bike on the south side of Djurgårdenbron and go for a ride around the island.
HammarbyFan
If you are in Stockholm on July 20, you should really experience a fotboll(soccer) match at Söderstadion. The most intense fans I have ever seen (section J and K especially). Hammarby is the local blue-collar team from the formerly working class section (the rents are quite high these days) of Stockholm.
While you are in Södermalm, you can’t pass up the SkyBar. Best view of Stockholm while indulging in an adult beverage! Located at Götgatan 78. Much better than a visit to the Ice Bar. Otherwise, enjoy the museums and if possible eat lunch at them. (National Art and Nordiska Museum serve some of the best and most affordable food) Try the City Museum. Free, fun and informative. If you like sculpture, check out Millesgården. Carl Milles had some Nazism in his background, but his work and the setting are amazing. Have fun.
windy
Err, no we don’t.
techno
@Xel
I am sure there are problems with the Swedish health-care system. There are problems with ALL of them. But by comparison to the USA, the Swedes live in paradise.
I stand by my contention that the guys responsible for the water quality of the Stockholm harbor have accomplished something truly remarkable.
And yes I know that Finland’s schools are better than anywhere else on the planet. But Swedish schools are damn good and yes, I have met 19-year-old Swedes who ARE fluent in four (or more) languages.
I am also quite aware that Sweden has slipped a LOT from their former reputation. One only must point out the decline from a Dag Hammarskjold or Olaf Palme to an idiot like Carl Bildt to make the point. Kind of like the decline in the Republican Party from Lincoln to W. Bush.